


One Direction x Harry Potter

by luminescence2



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom, One Direction
Genre: AU, Angst, Cute, Evil, Evil Intentions, Fluff, Harry Potter - Freeform, High School AU, M/M, idk i like it, just some fun crossover stuff, lots of names, not much harry potter more just the setting, zayn has a complex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-27
Updated: 2017-11-27
Packaged: 2019-02-07 17:29:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12846015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luminescence2/pseuds/luminescence2
Summary: a quick look into what it might be like to have the one direction boys attend hogwarts





	One Direction x Harry Potter

"I wish it weren't so bloody cold," Harry muttered to himself, wrapping his cloak around him tighter as he trudged through the snow of Hogsmeade, teeth chattering and the thought of butterbeer the only thing motivating him to keep moving. Well, that, and the fact that Louis was meeting him at the Three Broomsticks, and he had promised to help Harry on his astrology homework in exchange for some tips on his potions essay. Harry would never quite understand how he ended up dating a Ravenclaw—sure, it's not like he was dating his sworn enemy, that was Gryffindor—but he couldn't say he regretted it in any way.

The amount of times Louis had pulled through to help Harry pass a test or even a class was insurmountable, a debt that Harry couldn't possibly repay, but Louis swore he didn't mind. As long as Harry made sure that his fellow Slytherins didn't bother any of Louis' friends, Louis felt that the debt was being paid. And so Harry obliged, no matter how much teasing he received because of it. And to be fair, it wasn't much teasing. The other Slytherins knew how in love Harry was with Louis, and while it did confuse them as to why Harry would date someone from another house, they didn't question it. Mostly because they didn't feel like puking up slugs for a week, though.

It was blisteringly cold, the middle of December, so close to Christmas holidays but still a week of exams ahead of them, and the thought of sitting through them made Harry's mind go numb, and so he shook the thoughts away and tightened his green and grey striped scarf tighter around his neck. The wind subsided slightly as he entered the little village, ignoring the obnoxiously loud voices of the third and fourth years, making a beeline to the Three Broomsticks, where the promise of warmth and Louis kept him from ducking into the first sight of shelter that crossed his path.

He about ran the last few meters, before skidding a stop and yanking open the door. After nearly colliding with a very distracted Niall Horan, Harry ducked out of his way, almost hitting his head on the doorframe, but before he could tell Nick to watch where the fuck he was going, he was being pushed further inside the establishment by a shivering Lou Teasdale, looking like a red and yellow popsicle. "Oh, sorry Harry, I didn't mean to run into you," she said, her voice shaky, but not with nerves just with cold. Harry, who already had a negative disposition towards Lou, narrowed his eyes, but kept his mouth shut, because something about Lou’s innocent gaze prevented him from saying something insulting like he usually would.

Instead he just walked away, leaving Lou to blink the snow out of her eyes on her own. Harry expertly traversed the crowded pub, weaving through students and professors alike, carefully avoiding the notoriously rowdy table of Gryffindors, the ones who seemed to almost live in Hogsmeade, always there when Harry was, downing butterbeers at an alarming rate, books spread open but no studying being done. Harry always made a point to sit as far away from them as possible. However, there was no bypassing the table entirely, and so Harry was expecting the onslaught before it came.

"Harry, buddy!" Jedediah Jenkins, a fifth year, said, flashing Harry a bright smile. Harry didn't return it, his face falling into a scowl as he groaned quietly, shoving his hands into his pockets and hoping that his cold glare stopped any further conversation from the table, but he was wrong. Gryffindors didn't respond to a Slytherin's glare the way the other houses did, it was almost as if they fed off it, enjoyed making Harry as angry as possible. "Oh, look, you've upset him, Jed," Hari Nef said, crossing her arms and laughing loudly. Harry exhaled loudly through his nose, his wand suddenly feeling a lot heavier in his back pocket.

Instead of taking the obvious bait, Harry just continued walking past, around the corner and out of the Gryffindor's line of sight. It was exponentially quieter on this side of the pub, where actual studying was going on, and Harry sighed a sigh of relief at the sheer lack of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs present. He saw familiar Slytherin faces, passing Niomi and Jennifer, and some Ravenclaws that often ate with Louis during dinnertime, Harry was pretty sure one of them was named Connor. But he didn't care about the other people, he cared about one person in particular.

Louis was sat in the very back corner booth, his potions essay already spread out in front of him, a quill and bottle of ink sitting against the wall. He had a thoughtfully frustrated look on his face as he reached forward and scribbled out a line, biting his lip. Harry felt his face light up as he approached the table, dropping his bag down and sliding in across from Louis, pulling his wand out so he didn't accidentally snap it, and laying it in plain sight on the edge of the table. Louis looked up at the movement, and smiled, sitting his quill down and straightening his posture.

"Hey," he greeted. Harry flashed him a brief smile, pulling out his materials as well, spreading out his star charts and rulers, already dreading the work that was ahead of them. Thankfully, Louis had the amazing ability to make homework fun, and they were going to practice Quidditch together afterward, which Harry was particularly looking forward to, despite the weather. Even though they were on opposing teams, he loved seeing Louis fly through the air, searching for the Snitch, looking extra hot in his uniform. Harry had to admit, it took a great amount of strength during matches against Ravenclaw to keep him from just staring at Louis' form. As Keeper, it was a slight issue, but a few teases from his captain usually got him to focus.

"Okay, so I only have a few questions on the potions essay, but I have a feeling you're completely lost on your star charts?" Louis said, tapping his finger on the parchment. Harry flushed a bit, but shrugged his shoulders. "Trelawney's a fraud, what can I say?" he said, gaining a snort of laughter out of Louis, who rolled his eyes, relaxing back against the booth. "You're just upset that the magical centaur Firenze retired the year before you signed up for Divination," he remarked, and Harry blinked a few times, before choosing to ignore the comment, pulling Louis’ essay towards him. He could see Louis' grin in his peripheral vision, and it caused the corners of his own mouth to twitch, but he refused to look up.

However, when Louis let out a soft chuckle, Harry couldn't help but follow suit. What could he say? His boyfriend's laughter was contagious.

***

It was late when Louis and Harry finally trudged back up to Hogwarts castle, and Harry was pretty sure the only reason McGonagall wasn't on their asses about being out past curfew was that they were soaking wet with melting snow, cheeks on fire, and both out of breath from practicing Quidditch for way too long. And even though McGonagall was head of Gryffindor House and literally had an agenda against Harry, Louis had established a rather impressive relationship with the Headmistress, and so that combined probably is why the two got off for being out past curfew so often. It annoyed the likes of fellow Slytherin's Liam Payne and Niall Horan, who would do anything to be out past curfew, but for rather, unconventional reasons.

As soon as the couple entered the castle, they sighed as the warm air instantly dried them, likely a result of the magic that hung in the air in Hogwarts, and Harry shook out his hair, pushing it out of his eyes and yawning loudly. Louis did the same, pushing his curls to the side, looking like a male model despite what they had just been doing—practicing in the snow—and Harry once again found himself staring, but this time it was okay. Nobody was here to judge him. He could let a little bit of his softer side show. Louis caught him staring, and blushed redder, laughing nervously as the two began to walk towards the end of the foyer, where Harry would ultimately take the steps down to the Slytherin dungeons and Louis would walk up the spiraling staircases to Ravenclaw tower.

They didn't speak, mostly because they didn't want their voices to echo, but when the arrive at the 'fork in the road' to use a literary expression, they had to say their goodbyes, like always. Except this goodbye was an especially important one, because with exams starting tomorrow, their time was going to be limited to sharing breakfast together and the occasional midnight study session, but even those were extremely limited. As seventh years, their exams were crucial, NEWT level students they were, after all. Neither could blame the other for shutting themselves in their dorms to study, but it didn't mean they didn't miss each other any less.

Harry opened his mouth to speak, but Louis held up a hand. He lifted his wand, before giving it a little circular swish. "Muffliato," he whispered, and then lowered his wand, smiling brightly. 

"Now we can speak at a normal volume," he said, and Harry was a bit taken aback by the loudness of his voice. He nervously looked around large foyer, but was stunned to see that not even the people in the paintings made any acknowledgement that someone had disturbed them. "Where did you learn that spell?" Harry asked, still whispering. Louis shrugged his shoulders, moving to be closer to Harry. "Found it in an old potions book, what does it matter?" he said, his voice dropping once again as well.

Harry rolled his eyes, before leaning down and pressing his lips against Louis' lightly, his hand cupping his jaw. Louis stood up on his tiptoes for a minute, before groaning against Harry's lips and pulling out his wand again, pointing it firmly at his feet and thinking hard. Harry wasn't good at nonverbal spells, so he always admired Louis being able to perform them so well, and even though he didn't mind the height difference, he know Louis did, and so he easily adjusted as Louis levitated himself a few inches off the stone, to be the same height as Harry, and better kiss him.

The kiss was short, because they were quite out in the open, and as soon as their lips detached, Louis lowered himself back to the ground, his feet quietly thudding against the floor. Harry sighed at the loss of contact, his hand still cupping Louis' jaw, and Louis offered up a comforting smile. "I'll see you at breakfast," he whispered, and after pecking Harry's cheek once more he spun on his feet and dashed up the staircase. Harry stayed watching Louis until he disappeared to the second level, and that's when he sighed again, and made his way down to the Slytherin dungeons.

When he arrived he wasn't expecting an almost empty common room, because there was literally always a few people up at any particular hour in the Slytherin dungeons, and this time was no exception. It was quieter than usual, probably because the rowdier ones had retired to bed, and the people surrounding the fire were not only some of Harry's friends, but they were actually studying as well. Niall Horan, whom Harry had run into earlier in the day, and Liam Payne, a sixth-year who fell in surprisingly well the seventh-years were sitting in the best seats by the fire. Niall was muttering incantations whilst practicing wand movements, while Liam had a particularly complicated book on what looked like Ancient Ruins spread open on his lap.

Harry fell into the seat between them, letting the firelight make his eyes sleepy, and both Niall and Liam lifted their heads. "Hey babe, were you practicing Quidditch with the twink?" Tyler asked, wiggling his eyebrows. Harry narrowed his eyes, crossing his arms loosely. "I wish you wouldn't call him that," he said, and Niall raised his eyebrows, eyes darting to meet Liam’s, who matched his jovial expression, the two laughing. "My bad, didn't mean to hit a nerve," Niall continued, winking at Harry before returning to his wand movements. Liam smiled warmly at Harry, before reaching over and grabbing a sweet off of the end table and chucking it at the Brit.

"Here, Niomi made caramel drops," he said, but the sweet ended up halfway across the room, and Liam flinched, smiling apologetically. "There's a reason I'm not on the Quidditch team, aha," he said nervously, before burying his face back in his textbook. Harry rolled his eyes, before pointing his wand in the general direction the candy went flying, and performing the only nonverbal spell he was best at. Accio, caramel, he thought, and before he knew it, the candy was zooming back in his direction, where he caught it, quickly unwrapping it and popping it into his mouth. It was delicious, like all of Niomi's creations were, and he sighed a bit, his eyelids getting heavier by the second.

"Go to bed, Haz, exams are tomorrow, you need all the rest you can get," Niall said, not removing his eyes from the butterfly he had just conjured out of thin air. Harry yawned, stretching his arms and nodding, standing up. "See you guys," he muttered, not sticking around to hear their goodbyes, before departing to the seventh-year dorms, where his bed was waiting.  
He slipped in quietly, pulling his dirtied clothes off and leaving them in the hamper where they would be mysteriously missing the morning, and pulling on clean pajamas. He could detect the softly sleeping forms of his other roommates, and Niall’s empty bed in the darkness, and it didn't take long for sleep to find him once he pulled the covers up and over, and pulled his curtains closed around the four poster.

***

When he woke up, he was one of the first, his pre-exam nerves pulling him from sleep earlier than usual. He laid in his bed for a few minutes, staring up at the ceiling of his bed, wishing that sleep would find him again but knowing that it wouldn't. It was actually probably better that he was up early, because it meant he got first dibs on the showers, and therefore would be ready first and able to see Louis sooner. Why he was so taken with the boy he'd never know, but he didn't care all that much. As long as his friends didn't tease him for it, he didn't care at all, actually.

By the time he was dressed in his Slytherin robes, and his hair was styled up the way he liked it, the rest of the seventh-year boys were up as well, albeit moving a lot more slowly than Harry. Niall blinked over at the Brit, his hair standing up all over the place, his face especially drawn. "You've looked better," Harry said, grabbing his wand from his bedside table. Niall rolled his eyes humorlessly, giving Harry the finger before swinging his legs out from under the covers.

"What exam is first?" he asked, but Harry didn't feel like sticking around for that conversation, and so he ducked out of the dorm, his robes swishing behind him. He bypassed the various other early birds before exiting the dungeons entirely. His footsteps echoed off of the stone walls as he walked rather quickly towards the great hall, where the promise of food and his boyfriend kept him from wishing he were back in bed, asleep.

Along the way, as was inevitable, Harry ran into some of his fellow classmates, but thankfully they weren't Gryffindors. It would be highly unusual to see their arrogant faces up before nine in the morning after all. No, it was actually people that Harry could stand, though in small, infrequent doses. They were Ravenclaws, which really did make sense, and one of them was actually Louis' sister. Lottie, with her wide blue eyes, sprung up next to Harry. The way she walked, it was like she was about to just take flight. It made sense that she was Ravenclaw's substitute Seeker.

"Good morning, brother-in-law," she said, throwing an arm around Harry's shoulders. She had to stand on her tiptoes to be able to, resulting in her yanking Harry down about half a foot when she lowered herself. Harry groaned at the uncomfortable position, before shoving out of the embrace and brushing his arms off. "Are you meeting Fizzy in the Great Hall?" he asked, ignoring her slightly hurt expression. That expression disappeared at the mention of her other brother, and she smiled, turning her head around. "Yeah, he's just a ways behind us," she said, and then she looked at Harry thoughtfully, before smiling. "I think I'll just go join him," she said, and before Harry could pretend to want her to stay, she spun on her heel and glided away.

Harry shook his head, Lottie’s bubbly personality overstimulating him this early. He turned left into the Great Hall, and was excited to see that he wasn't going to be one of like seven awake so early. It was relatively crowded actually, everyone cramming right before their exams. The Ravenclaw table was the most crowded, which annoyed Harry, because he always felt so awkward sitting with a bunch of his boyfriend's friends, even though he had no reason to feel awkward past the fact that he was an outsider. But it was better than having Louis sit at the Slytherin table, where it was an actual abomination, for the Slytherins viewed their table as sacred and exclusive to their own kind only. Harry thought it a bit ridiculous but also agreed with them at the same time, so he dealt with the awkwardness of surrounding himself with 

Ravenclaws and just reminded himself that at least it wasn't Gryffindor or Hufflepuff.  
Louis always sat at the end of the table closest to the head of the hall, where McGonagall and the other professors sat, and he was always surrounded by the same group of people. Usually a few of them had left by the time Harry arrived—Louis, being the sweetheart he is, always waited to eat until Harry arrived usually thirty minutes after him—but since he was early today, they were all present. The first person he spotted was the kid that he didn't quite understand why he was friends with Louis. Sure, they both shared a passion for video games—they were both Muggle-born as well—but other than that they had absolutely nothing in common as far as Harry knew.

His name was Sean and Harry wasn't sure about him, but he had a head of dark green hair, and he was Irish, and kind, so he put up with him. Next to Sean was a person who's friendship with Louis actually made sense. Star of the Hogwarts choir, it was Conor, who's brother Jack was one of Harry's good friends, a fellow Slytherin and Chaser on the Slytherin Quidditch team. Next to Conor was the sixth-year newspaper editor also called Connor, but an exchange student from America. He was actually a friend of Niall’s, though Harry had slight suspicions that it was more than a friendship.

No matter how much Niall denied it, Harry knew exactly what sneaking around looked like, because he and Louis had done so much of it for the first year of dating. Inter-house relationships weren't forbidden but they were frowned upon if it was between two rivaled houses, and while Ravenclaw and Slytherin weren't sworn enemies, Slytherin still maintained it's pureblood preference, though they were much more tolerant ever since the Battle of Hogwarts. He didn't pressure Niall into confessing though, he just turned a blind eye to all the tell-tale signs.

Louis was sat next to choir Conor, his golden plate and goblet void of food or drink, and Harry felt the corners of his mouth tilt up in an almost-smile at the sentiment. All four seemed immersed in a riveting conversation, Louis' eyes bright and intrigued, his entire body leaning forward as he contributed. Sean had his hands in the air, very animatedly telling his part, and Conor couldn't seem to stop shaking with laughter. It was the other Connor who noticed Harry, his head turning slightly, eyes falling first on Harry's shoes, before sliding upwards. His green eyes locked with Harry's icy ones, and he smiled. "Harry Styles, I was wondering when you'd show up," he said, interrupting the conversation.

The chatter died down as Harry smiled at Connor, before diverting his gaze to Louis, who offered him a warm grin, scooting over and patting the space next to him. "Morning," he said. Harry nodded his head as he swung his legs over and sat down on the bench, sitting down his wand. He ignored the stares from those who weren't part of the group, and he was comforted as Louis put a hand on his thigh, rubbing comforting circles with his thumb. "You are here early, I'll say," Sean said, pointing his fork in Harry's direction. "He's right," Louis said, and Harry turned to look at him, shrugging his shoulders and pulling his plate towards him, loading it with fried potatoes, bacon, and eggs.

Louis copied him, though with smaller amounts of each, and soon the conversation started up again, this time focused on exams, however. Harry contributed as much as he could, but he wasn't one to talk about his studies, unless it was in private with Louis, and so he mostly listened, offering up a comment every now and then. As they talked, the Great Hall began to fill up with more and more students, the once hushed murmur of conversation growing into an all out buzz, voices layering over voices, which actually put Harry at ease, made him more comfortable.

He was long finished with breakfast, now just enjoying Louis' company, and delaying getting up to go do some last-minute studying. All of Louis' friends had departed to do just that, and so it was just Louis and Harry at the end of Ravenclaw table, and to anyone who didn't know they were dating, it looked odd to see a Slytherin laugh as much as Harry was, but everyone who was anyone at Hogwarts knew that Louis and Harry were dating. They didn't exactly keep it a secret, not after being accidentally outed in their sixth-year, and the fact that Harry was a Slytherin—and a confident one at that—kept people off their backs.

"We should go, they're going to start clearing the tables for exams any minute," Louis said, standing up and stepping over the benches. Harry copied him, swinging an arm around his boyfriend as they strode down the Great Hall, a little smirk on Harry's face at all the eyes they drew. They did look quite dramatic with their robes billowing behind them, and while it made Louis bashful, it only filled Harry with gleeful satisfaction.

The hall was relatively busy, with students bustling here and there on their way to various exams, and Harry and Louis walked against the flow, the sea parting just for them. "When's your first exam?" Harry asked, reaching out to catch one of Louis' books before it went falling to the ground. Louis flashed him a smile before adjusting his grip on his books and matching his pace with Harry. "Thirty minutes, you?" he asked. Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I'll just bet on Niall or Liam to get me to where I need to be on time," he said, chuckling. Louis raised an eyebrow, an amused look on his face. "You sure you want to trust Niall to get you anywhere on time? He's consistently late to Quidditch practice," he remarked. Harry rolled his eyes at that, throwing an arm around Louis' shoulders casually. "Tell me something I don't know," he muttered.

Harry wasn't entirely sure where they were going, just letting Louis guide him, and it wasn't long before he realized it was to the library, most likely to return Louis' numerous textbooks that he had checked out for studying. When they arrived a hushed silence fell over them, and it was difficult for Harry to keep his footsteps quiet as they ventured into the very far corners of the Restricted Section. Harry had never been back to the Restricted Section—he had had no reason to visit, but looking at all the titles of the books made him suddenly very interested in what they had to say. As Louis was putting the books in the proper place to be magically lifted to their spot, he spotted a figure hunched over one of the desks, dark black hair swooshed over his eyes, not enough to cover them just, with a rather melancholy, bored expression on his face.

Harry recognized him. He was in Louis' house, Ravenclaw, and known as a recluse who someone had the dirt on every single person in Hogwarts. He was notorious for being the one to start rumors that lit a fuse under every student in the school, and while Harry mostly thought it was funny, he was a little confused as to why the kid got so much joy out of it. But he didn't question it. Apparently, the kid felt eyes on him, because he lifted his head, and blinked at Harry, before leaning back in his seat and stretching. "Welcome to the goddamn Restricted Section, eyebrows," he said, his voice monotonous. Harry blinked back, Louis turning around to see who was talking. He smiled at the boy, walking forward and leaning against the opposite desk. "Hey Nick, still sulking?" he asked.

The boy—who Harry knew as Grimmy and not Nick—looked up at Louis lazily, before rolling his eyes and standing up, grabbing his wand and shrugging his shoulders. "Just wondering how much longer I have to be stuck in this shithole," he murmured, before brushing past both Louis and Harry, shaking his head slowly. "Just another term, if my math is correct!" Louis called after, cupping his hands around his mouth. Harry laughed, taking Louis' hand and pulling him away from the bookshelves. "Come on, we have just enough time to go make out in the prefect's bathrooms," he whispered. Louis visibly shivered, rolling his eyes but moving in front to be the one to pull Harry along behind him.

They make it barely out of the library before they are bombarded by three very eccentric, very energetic Hufflepuffs who seem to actually be looking for the only Ravenclaw/Slytherin couple. Only couple that was officially out, at least. They come to a breathless stop in front of Joe and Caspar, eyes bright and a bit crazed. "Louis Tomlinson! Harry Styles!" Lou said, pushing her long hair out of her eyes. Louis' eyes widened as she reached forward, gripping his upper arms, her gaze intense. "You need to get to your tests, like right now!" she said. Harry narrowed his eyes, looking over at the others, who just nodded assent, brushing dust off their sleeves. "Why?" Louis asked, blinking rapidly as he tried to process Lilly's face just inches from his.

"Why?!" she cried out. "Because the Gryffindors are about to storm the place and I'm just trying spare you, come on," she begged, releasing Louis and bending at the knees, making a pulling gesture downwards with her hands. Louis opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out, his mind still trying to figure out what exactly was going on. He looked desperately to Harry, who groaned, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms. "What is this about?" he asked Joe, who looked at him sympathetically. "Lilly's right, mate, and they're on the warpath," he said softly. Caspar only nodded in agreement, and Harry groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose before grabbing Louis by the elbow and spinning them both around.

Before they got even a meter away, however, they heard voices calling their names. "Hey! Styles and Tomlinson! Wait up, we have a surprise for you!" It was a voice Harry recognized, one that he had grown used to over the years of mutual torment, all of which had started out as harmless banter but slowly grown into something a bit more serious as the two got older. They had bonded at the beginning over their similar childhoods, but once they got past third year they had really taken to their respective houses and their friendship had dissolved into a mutual distaste for one another. Harry wouldn't quite chalk it up to hatred, but it was borderline.

With his dark, styled hair and striking eyes, jawline that could cut a bitch and overall confidence, Zayn Malik was probably the worst Gryffindor of them all. He was their Seeker, their star pupil, their idol that they placed on their pedestal and worshipped like the god he thought he was. He stood tall, one hip jutted out, hand placed over it, jaw tilted up as his eyes sparkled with mischievous glee. He was flanked by other Gryffindors who were just desperate to absorb some of his power. They all looked absolute ravenous, just wanting to get a taste of the limelight that Zayn stood in, and willing to do anything for it. Include harassing Harry and his boyfriend, both of whom had done nothing to provoke them, Harry might add.

However, as the Gryffindors assembled, so did the Slytherins, like a magnet almost. Not every Slytherin, just the few that knew Harry personally, and were willing to stand by him. It was clear that shit was about to go down, and a Slytherin wasn't a Slytherin if they didn't participate in some form or another. Harry gently pushed Louis to the side, into the safety of fellow Ravenclaws, who pulled him even further away. Harry was willing to deal with Zayn, but he didn't want Louis getting hurt in the crossfire. From the shadows appeared Harry's friends.

Niall and Liam of course, wicked little smirks on their faces as they sized up their natural enemies. Niomi was there too, a bit more timid, but intrigued nonetheless. That's really it, everyone else standing around was either unwilling to get involved or just watching for entertainment, of which there was going to be plenty. Zayn continued to smile mischievously at Harry, his eyes narrowed to slits. Harry's hand clenched around his wand, before he sighed, slouching a bit. "What do you want, Zayn? You have your audience, now speak," he said.

Zayn waited a beat—for suspense most likely—before chuckling, standing up straight and moving forward a few steps. Harry tensed, feeling the bodies around him doing the same. Zayn came to a stop about two meters away from Harry, robes pushed to the side just enough to let his wand peek out. "Oh, I thought you'd be more excited," he said, his voice sickeningly sweet. 

Harry had to give it to Zayn, he knew exactly how to talk down to Harry in a way that made his blood boil. Harry had to be careful. He knew that if he pulled his wand first, Zayn would play victim and the rest of the Gryffindors would back him up, and Harry would end up getting in trouble because nobody ever suspected the Gryffindors, only the Slytherins.

Harry narrowed his own eyes as he shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not easily excitable, Malik," he replied coldly. He heard someone—Perrie—stifle a laugh behind Zayn and shot her a particularly harsh glare, before returning it to Zayn. Zayn let out a little 'hmph', dropping his eyes to the floor before lifting them back up, crossing his arms and lilting up on his tiptoes for a minute. "I've learned a new spell—,"

"Oh, look, he can learn new things," Harry cut him off, sharing looks with Niall and Liam, who laughed with him. When Harry returned to look at Zayn, he saw a gleeful little smile on his face, but also detected a flash of anger in those pretty brown eyes. Zayn took another step forward, to the point where Harry could smell his cologne now. "I have yet to get back at you for what you pulled at the Quidditch match on Saturday," he whispered, his voice suddenly threatening. Harry mockingly gasped, raising his eyebrows and pressing a hand to his chest, backing up a few paces and once again looking at his friends, who mirrored his mockingly shocked expression.

"Oh no, poor Zaynie is offended that I was a little rough pushing him away from the goals on Saturday," he cooed, being extremely overdramatic. He saw how much it was angering Zayn, which only encouraged the tone more. He scoffed, pulling out his wand abruptly and pointing it at Zayn, square between the eyes. Zayn gasped and had his pulled out a split-second later, and suddenly the shit really did get real, and all the laughter cut off immediately, and everyone took a good two or three steps back as the two boys glared each other down. "Tease me one more time, Styles, and I swear to God," Zayn whispered, face red with anger. Harry tilted his head, raising his eyebrows and tightening his grip on his wand, not entirely sure how he planned to defend himself, but preparing himself nonetheless.

"What? What will you do, precious little Zayn Malik?" Harry teased, mockingly pushing his lower lip out in a pout. Zayn’s nostrils flared with anger, and Harry knew it was about to happen before it did, and he pulled his arm back with the intention to thrust it back at Zayn along with a spell, but before he could, he heard the spell come out of Zayn's mouth, and suddenly he couldn't move anything. He didn't recognize the spell at all, it was a foreign one that had never been taught to him, but that was hardly the first thing on his mind. Because all over his body he felt like knives were slicing him open. He watched as he dropped his wand and large gashes appeared suddenly on his arm, out of nowhere. They burned into his flesh, blinding him with pain as he felt them all over. Not just his arms, but his legs and torso and back and neck, painful enough to cause him to collapse to the ground.

"What the fuck did you do, Zayn?!" he heard voices cry out, and then there was a lot of shuffling and screaming for help. But Harry couldn't focus on what was going on around him, just shake in pain and choke out sobs as his eyes watered and blurred his vision. He lay there on the ground, twitching as his body was quite literally being mutilated by forces unseen, and hands hovered over him, but nothing was touching him, nobody was trying to heal him.

Louis broke out of Marcus's hold after being forced to Stupify him, and once he was free he fell to his knees next to Harry, holding back his tears and trying to remain relatively calm as he forced himself to think back to that godforsaken book and remember the countercurse. As he was thinking he could only hover his hands over Harry, who was shaking with pain, only able to make the quietest of noises. Zayn meanwhile, seemed to be in a state of shock, his eyes wide and terrified, his hands shaking, wand fallen on the floor. His mouth was halfway open with unspoken words, and whenever his friends tried to pull him away, he wouldn't budge.

Everyone around looked absolutely shocked to the point of not being able to move, just able to stare in horror as Harry slowly bled out onto the stone floor. Louis picked up on the sound of footsteps running up to them, and it wasn't long after that the crowd parted and Professors McGonagall and Slughorn had arrived, their faces etched with worry. "What's going on here?" McGonagall asked, head snapping around to look at everyone. Zayn remained frozen to his spot, and Connor took it upon himself to fill in the Headmistress, who's eyes widened as she realized the severity, and proceeded to shoo everyone else away. "Horace, go alert Madam Pomfrey at once, this child is going to need a lot of care," she said, keeping her voice as calm as possible. 

Once Slughorn had clomped off, McGonagall rushed to Harry, falling to her knees and brandishing her wand. Louis looked up at her, tears staining his cheeks.

"Save him," he whispered, his voice broken. He couldn't do it. He couldn't save Harry, because he couldn't remember the countercurse. He couldn't remember because he hadn't bothered to look for it. Because he had never planned on actually using the spell, because he didn't have any enemies. McGonagall rested a hand on Louis' shoulder nodding gently before ever so carefully tracing the cuts with the tip of her wand, not actually touching them, hovering just above. She was muttering something under her breath, but Louis wasn't listening, he was just watching as she healed each cut, and slowly, slowly, Harry's whimpers subsided, and he slumped against the stone, breathing heavily, his eyes still shut.

McGonagall sighed, pushing her hat back up onto her head and standing back up. "There, there, let's get him to the hospital wing," she said, patting Louis awkwardly as she stood up. She looked to her right and snapped her fingers. ”Mr. Payne, I need you to carry Mr. Styles up to the infirmary, and Mr. Horan, I need you to walk Mr. Malik back to the Gryffindor common room, where I will be up to speak with him shortly," she instructed. Niall and Liam hesitated a moment, before nodding.

"Come on mate, just walk with me," Niall coaxed Zayn into walking, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and guiding him away from the scene slowly. Louis stayed sitting on the ground as Liam awkwardly lifted up Harry, who was dead weight in his arms, floppy. A quick wave of McGonagall's seemed to fix that, and Liam gave her a weak smile in response. "Does Madam Pomfrey know we're coming?" he asked. McGonagall nodded, and Liam jerked his head in response, before turning around and walking in the opposite direction of Niall.

McGonagall stared at Louis for a moment longer, before gently holding out a hand for him, which he took. Once he was standing up McGonagall dropped his hand and adjusted her robes, a stern little look on her face. "Chin up, Mr. Tomlinson, everything is going to be okay," she said. Louis looked up at her, before nodding solemnly. McGonagall waited a few more minutes, before pursing her lips. "I'm going to push your exams until tomorrow, so go be with Mr. Styles for today," she said. Louis' heart swelled with gratitude for his Headmistress, before he nodded and turned, ready to chase after Liam. "Quit snooping around in the Room of Requirement," McGonagall added, a bit of warning laced in her tone. Louis flushed, but nodded profusely, before scurrying off after Harry.

***

It didn't take long for Harry to wake up, whatever spell McGonagall used having done most of the healing on its own, but regardless, Louis was a little over eager when he saw the Brit’s eyes flutter open. They looked around in confusion for a few minutes, before finally landing on Louis and softening. Louis smiled gently, reaching out and taking Harry's hand, giving it a little squeeze. "Did we miss exams?" Harry asked, and Louis laughed, ducking his head before brushing Harry's flattened hair out of his eyes. "No, sweet boy, we're fine," he replied, his fingers lingering on his forehead. Harry smiled, relieved. "Thank god," he sighed. Louis chuckled, scooting closer to the bed.

"I'm the one who's supposed to be academic, not you," he said, just stroking Harry's hair at this point. Harry smiled a cheeky little grin that Louis didn't usually get to see because Harry was so busy being the formidable Slytherin boy that Hogwarts had turned him into. But Louis knew beneath the exterior, Harry was one of the softest, gentlest people he'd ever had the pleasure of running into. He was a very lucky boy indeed. "Has anyone else stopped by?" he asked, looking down at the table, where numerous cards adorned the surface. Louis laughed, nodding, looking at the gifts as well.

"Yeah, everyone wanted to see if Harry Styles really had been put in the hospital wing by puny little Zayn Malik," he said, but then quickly retracted after seeing the expression on Harry's face. "I'm kidding!" he exclaimed, waving his hands in the air. Harry narrowed his eyes, but didn't press the issue anymore. Louis just kept moving the conversation along in the hopes to distract him. "But yeah, about the entire Slytherin house dropped by, but only Niomi and Niall left gifts, the rest said they had better things to do, and the rest are from my house and Hufflepuff," he said, and then his eyes landed on one gift in particular.

He narrowed his eyes as he stood up to grab it, realizing it was a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. He turned it over and over but didn't see a name on it. Curious, he jiggled it in front of Louis, eyes scrunched in confusion. "Nobody I know left these, do they mean anything to you?" he asked, gently handing them over. Harry took them, and Louis noticed his eyes immediately grow sad as he inhaled ever so slightly. Louis, worried, returned to Harry's bedside, reaching out and resting a hand on Harry's arm. Harry looked at him, his eyes shining as he sat the box of jelly beans down.

"They're from Zayn," he said. Louis' first reaction was negative, his insides lit with anger as he realized that Zayn had visited Harry when Louis had been asleep, had left him a gift that was probably poisonous, and had even dared to show his face after what he had done. Harry's eyes widened as he quickly took Louis' hand, shaking his head. "No, it's okay, Louis!" he said, gently rubbing circles into the top of Louis' hand in an attempt to calm him down. "It's just kind of what Zayn and I used to do when we upset each other, back when we were young," he explained. Louis listened, albeit a bit apprehensively, but he listened nonetheless.

Harry sighed, resting his head back on the pillows. "We used to give each other Bertie's Every Flavor as a peace offering that still kind of sucked for the other person," he said, the ghost of a smile on his lips. He swallowed whatever he was feeling and looked back at Louis, his eyes tired all of a sudden. "Just a peace offering, love," he whispered. Louis wasn't still fully convinced and still wasn't going to stop thinking of numerous ways to avenge Harry, but he decided in that moment, that he wasn't going to give any more thought to Zayn Malik. He was going to make sure his boyfriend was okay, and so he decided to do just that.

He brushed Harry's hair out of his eyes once more, before leaning over the bed and pressing his lips against his.


End file.
